Practise this conversation
How to hold an absence review meeting
Kind and clear, in the same sentence.
Callum is waiting for you
Before you go in
Callum’s six years in and good on the trade counter, and his absence score has hit the store’s trigger: five short absences in a year. You’ve booked half an hour for the first-stage review, and you’ve heard he’s ready for a fight.
Good luck.
Your goal
Hold a fair first-stage review with Callum: explain the trigger, find out what’s behind the absences, and agree clear next steps.
Practise: up to 8 turns, typed, about five minutes, then feedback from our AI coach. Your first go at this conversation is free. After that, one BOM Credit a go (packs from £3).
Pro: talk it through out loud with Callum, our AI character, for up to six minutes. Then a full report, a coach hint on your second go and your own words to take in. 6 BOM Credits for both goes.
What you’ll practise
- Explaining what the trigger is and what this stage means in plain words, without apologising for it.
- Asking open questions about the causes and hearing the answer out.
- Agreeing next steps, including taking HR’s advice if a health condition comes up.
Your goal
Your free go at this one is used
One BOM Credit runs the whole conversation
Each new go costs one BOM Credit: a full conversation with Callum and the coach’s feedback. Your free go at the other conversations is still there.
No code? Get BOM Credits, from 10 for £3. Your code comes by email and works across the coach tools. Full refund within 14 days if you haven’t used a BOM Credit.
What worked
Where it slipped
Say this instead
One thing to practise
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After the real one
When is the real conversation? We’ll email you once, the day after, to ask how it went.
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Ready for the real one?
Rehearse it with Callum until you’re ready
Practise the conversation until it feels like the second time, not the first, and walk in with your best words.
- Two full rehearsals: up to 20 turns each, out loud or typed
- On the second, a hint from the coach after each reply
- Your own best lines on a card to take in with you
With the Best value pack (50 BOM Credits), 6 BOM Credits is about £1.44 · $1.90 · €1.70 · A$2.90. After that, one more go with hints is 2 BOM Credits. Private: use made-up names. We don’t store what you type; our AI provider processes it to reply.
We don’t store what you type; our AI provider processes it to reply. Use a made-up name for the person you’re thinking of. The feedback is written by AI from your conversation and is a second pair of eyes, not a verdict on you.
Practice for reflection, not legal or HR advice. If it involves harassment, discrimination, health or safety, talk to HR or ACAS.
The full picture
Callum has worked at a DIY store for six years, mostly on the trade counter. The absence system has flagged him: five separate absences in twelve months, most of them a day or two, which puts his score over the store's trigger. Under the policy that means a first-stage absence review meeting with you, his supervisor. You've given him notice in writing and he knows what it's about.
He's a solid worker and good with trade customers. He's also been short with you all week, and a colleague told you he's "not going to take it lying down". You've booked the training room for half an hour. You want to explain the policy properly, hear what's behind the absences, and agree what happens next, fairly.
Why it's hard
The score makes it feel automatic, so it's tempting to read out the policy and hand him a target. He'll hear that he's a number and dig in. Go the other way, apologise for the system and promise it doesn't matter, and you've undermined a policy you'll need to use again. The skill is to explain the trigger plainly as a process, not a verdict, then genuinely explore the causes. Sometimes there's something underneath, like a long-term health condition, that changes what the right next step is. When that happens your job isn't to decide in the room. It's to pause, take advice from HR and come back to him.
Average absence has reached 9.4 days per employee a year, the highest in more than 15 years.
CIPD with Simplyhealth, Health and wellbeing at work, September 2025Two-thirds of managers say they're uncomfortable communicating with the people they manage.
Lou Solomon, Harvard Business Review, March 2016 (survey by Interact and Harris Poll)What usually goes wrong, and what you'll practise
What usually goes wrong
- "The system's flagged you, so I have to do this." You've told him you don't believe in it either.
- Reading the policy aloud for five minutes before asking him anything.
- Hearing about a health condition and carrying straight on with targets, or deciding on the spot what the law says.
What you'll practise
- Explaining what the trigger is and what this stage means in plain words, without apologising for it.
- Asking open questions about the causes and hearing the answer out.
- Agreeing next steps, including taking HR's advice if a health condition comes up.
Read before you practise
Questions people ask
How do I hold an absence review meeting?
Give notice and keep it private. Explain plainly what the trigger is and what this stage means. Ask about the reasons behind the absences and listen. Agree what happens next: expectations, support, and a review date. Follow your own policy, and write it down.
What is an absence trigger or Bradford Factor score?
Many employers use a score that weighs how often someone is off as well as for how long, so several short absences score higher than one long one. Hitting the trigger usually starts a review stage, not a punishment. Your own policy sets the numbers.
What if they have a health condition or disability?
Pause before deciding anything. A long-term condition may be covered by disability law, which can mean reasonable adjustments or discounting some absences. Thank them for telling you, then talk to HR before the process goes further. In the UK, ACAS has free guidance on absence and disability.
Credits here are BOM Credits: packs from 10 for £3 to 100 for £20, and one code works across every coach tool on the site. Full refund within 14 days if you haven't used a BOM Credit. Anything wrong, email [email protected]. How BOM Credits work